wiring with a 4 pole 2 way switch

[Orpheo]

Hi guys,

I'm wiring some stuff up on a new project, and I see these lovely toggleswitches, used by the RAF of the UK (royal air force). vintage toggles  :hello2: I've got a strange thing when it comes to those

but; in the add, he says its an on/off switch, with 4 poles, and 3 lugs for each pole. I can't imagine a toggle which really does not do crap at one position! that means that the toggle really can only be used in one direction, and that one only! so, please enlighten me:

is there such a thing, as an on/off switch?! which works on the inside that it does nothing at one position? or can I safely buy that toggle for dual phase reversal? (don't ask why )

 

[dbw]

They had to have meant either on/on, or on/off/on.  Can you ask the seller whether it's got 2 or 3 positions?

 

[Orpheo]

its a 2 way switch, but I bought them anyway. the seller replied 'its like with your lights at home; on, or off, right?'




*doh*

 

[exalted]

I'm pretty sure the "off" position just goes to the ground.

So, you could change it to on/on by just attaching the first and third sets of poles to your inputs, and the middle set to the output.

That's how my switches for my Jazzmaster were, anyway.

Oh, and an on-off switch would only have two poles. One input, one output, I'm pretty sure. It's been a while since I've thought about this kind of stuff.

 

[Alfang]

There may be some wrong language being used here I don't know

If each pole has 3 points of connection, then one is a common and switches itself between the other two points, ie...cycle switch one direction it connects to one point, cycle the other way it connects to the other point and opens the first point.
This is refered to as a 3way switch in the electrical world

That is the DT Double Throw in a switch that maybe labled as 4PDT, the 4P = 4 poles, 4 individual sets of the above 3 points.  It's 4- 3way switches controlled by one toggle switch.

these switches can be used as simple on off switches

And by the way, nothing in the switch is connected to ground, you gotta do that on purpose externally if that's what you want.

A single switch is the earliest form of an electronic computer, and modern computers are made up of many millions of switches.

 

[Orpheo]

There may be some wrong language being used here I don't know

If each pole has 3 points of connection, then one is a common and switches itself between the other two points, ie...cycle switch one direction it connects to one point, cycle the other way it connects to the other point and opens the first point.
This is refered to as a 3way switch in the electrical world

That is the DT Double Throw in a switch that maybe labled as 4PDT, the 4P = 4 poles, 4 individual sets of the above 3 points.  It's 4- 3way switches controlled by one toggle switch.

these switches can be used as simple on off switches

And by the way, nothing in the switch is connected to ground, you gotta do that on purpose externally if that's what you want.

A single switch is the earliest form of an electronic computer, and modern computers are made up of many millions of switches.

yeah, thats what I meant  :binkybaby: :confused4:

and the switches I bought have 4 poles, and the toggle only knows 2 spots (the les paul toggle knows 3 spots, and this only 2, thats my refference point )

and all I need now, is to rout a bit inmy lovely guitarbody to make room for the toggles, cause I forgot to order the large control rout  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[exalted]

And by the way, nothing in the switch is connected to ground, you gotta do that on purpose externally if that's what you want.

Maybe I'm not visualizing this correctly, or maybe I'm still hung over, but here's what I was picturing in my head based on the description:

Anyway, since the OP says it doesn't matter, I suppose it doesn't. But what I was trying to convey was that if C&D are outputs, A&B are inputs, and you want the switch to function as on/off, then you would make E&F switched to the ground to fully kill the "off" signal. But now that I think about it, that would kill your ENTIRE guitar's signal, wouldn't it?   :doh:

Gotta save some money so I can buy more guitars and get some of my knowledge back.

 

[Orpheo]

thats not the way that switch works... the middle ones are the inputs, and the outer ones are output. and wiring one of the outer lugs to earth makes that side go 'off'.

 

[exalted]

I think I need to shut up about this (my foot being in my mouth for this long is getting a little uncomfortable), but on these kinds of switches, aren't input and output a relative term? Isn't it all based on use?

The middle posts are the common terminal, so you can either use them as on/on switches by using that as the output (because no matter which position the switch is in, it is always sending signal to the output), but if you use the middle posts as the inputs, wouldn't it become an on/off switch (unless you have two output jacks)?

 

[tfarny]

You guys are WAY overthinking this.
1) there's no 'input' or 'output' - just the middle terminals which are "common".

2. To use it as on/offf you just wire up one side - for instance pickup hot to A, out to jack to C. Nothing else needed. That's the equivalent of 'ight switch'.
3, To use it as on/on you just wire up, for instance, pickup one to A, pickup two to E, out to jack to C.
4. Alternatively, wire a pickup to C, and have A go to a tone circuit or active onboard boost, etc., and E go direct to the jack.

Oh, just read Alf's post where he says the same thing. OK, just +1 to alfang as usual, then.

BTW, was there a politics thread about the Nobel thingy that got deleted before I even had a chance to annoy anyone?  :hello2:

 

[exalted]

Thanks for the clarification, Tim! I wasn't right, but I wasn't wrong...I can live with that. :icon_jokercolor: